J Psychoactive Drugs. 2014 Jan-Mar;46(1):63-72. doi: 10.1080/02791072.2013.873157.
This qualitative empirical study explores the ritual use of ayahuasca in the treatment of addictions. Ayahuasca is an Amazonian psychedelic plant compound created from an admixture of the vine Banisteriopsis caapi and the bush Psychotria viridis. The study included interviews with 13 therapists who apply ayahuasca professionally in the treatment of addictions (four indigenous healers and nine Western mental health professionals with university degrees), two expert researchers, and 14 individuals who had undergone ayahuasca-assisted therapy for addictions in diverse contexts in South America. The study provides empirically based hypotheses on therapeutic mechanisms of ayahuasca in substance dependence treatment. Findings indicate that ayahuasca can serve as a valuable therapeutic tool that, in carefully structured settings, can catalyze neurobiological and psychological processes that support recovery from substance dependencies and the prevention of relapse. Treatment outcomes, however, can be influenced by a number of variables that are explained in this study. In addition, issues related to ritual transfer and strategies for minimizing undesired side-effects are discussed.
本定性实证研究探讨了在治疗成瘾方面使用阿育吠陀的仪式。阿育吠陀是一种来自亚马逊的迷幻植物混合物，由藤蔓班纳西亚普斯（Banisteriopsis caapi）和灌木 Psychotria viridis 混合而成。该研究包括对 13 名专业应用阿育吠陀治疗成瘾的治疗师（4 名土著治疗师和 9 名拥有大学学位的西方心理健康专业人员）、两名专家研究人员和 14 名在南美的不同环境中接受过阿育吠陀辅助成瘾治疗的个人进行了访谈。该研究提供了关于阿育吠陀治疗物质依赖治疗的治疗机制的基于经验的假设。研究结果表明，阿育吠陀可以作为一种有价值的治疗工具，在精心设计的环境中，可以促进支持戒除物质依赖和预防复发的神经生物学和心理过程。然而，治疗结果可能受到本研究中解释的许多变量的影响。此外，还讨论了与仪式传承和最小化不良副作用策略相关的问题。
